In autumn, especially on a fine sunny day, we spend a lot of time looking up at the trees. The brilliant colors of the leaves are the stars of the show. Follow a leaf or two as it flutters down. How quickly those bright leaves fade to softer hues. The more subtle beauties of autumn are closer to our feet. I stopped to study a silvery tree stump, ringed with a collar of ruffled fungi. The pin oak and willow oak leaves will soon cover the stump. Time will work its magic. It all, eventually, becomes part of the earth.